This and that. Hungry for scud and other stories

By Angus Shaw | June 9, 2015 |

🔴 Scud: our traditional ‘food and drink’ beer. Fifteen young and middle aged men are in the Kudenga rural store. The proprietor has put in a free-to-play pool table because there’s little else to do around here and no money to do it with. One player says they are all “hungry for scud.” Scud is…

This and that. Blatter, breakfast and power

By Angus Shaw | June 4, 2015 |

🔴 Jacob Zuma and Sepp Blatter. So farewell, Mr Blatter. You are stepping down after 17 years in power because you no longer have the full support of world football. During the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, I arrived, by mistake, at a press conference venue ridiculously early. Blatter came in with aides to  see…

The riches of language

By Angus Shaw | June 2, 2015 |

The eavesdropped conversation went like this: Diplomat: ”What are you going to do to fix that corruption problem I read about in the morning paper?” Politician: ”We’ll fix the reporter.” ANDREW SAXON revisited: A rave from the past. The riches of language.   ZBC’s morning recipe was read by a new voice and he was talking…

Beauty brouhaha?

By Angus Shaw | May 29, 2015 |

Winner Emily Kachote, 25   Many say the Miss World Zimbabwe beauty pageant is being unjustifiably militarised and that’s in bad taste. The head of the Miss Zimbabwe Trust is supermodel Mary Chiwenga, née Mary Mubaiwa (left, arriving at the Independence Day celebrations), the wife of army commander Gen. Constantine Chiwenga. He is lending a…

Rip it all up, says Mr Tome

By Angus Shaw | May 26, 2015 |

So Edward Tome, described as a political analyst and historian, wants to campaign for Africa Unity Square, Harare’s central square, to be ripped up and redesigned. He finds it offensive that the square – its resplendent much-photographed lavender-blue jacaranda trees in full bloom once a year – was laid out as a copy of the British…

Easy guide. How to navigate this site

By Angus Shaw | May 22, 2015 |

On smaller screens, the upright or narrower portrait format of phones and tablets rather than the horizontal landscape view, see the white chevrons at the top left on a red background, click on the white chevrons to open extra features, the search button, monthly archives and book covers. And, once  on the site, there are plenty of items…

Let there be light.

By Angus Shaw | May 21, 2015 |

Let there be light. Fat chance. Daily electricity blackouts now last up to 18 hours. It will be a bleak winter as temperatures drop in the southern hemisphere. The energy minister Samuel Undenge says Zimbabwe’s chronic electricity shortages should end by 2018, election year… Here’s a brief sitrep: 📍The Zimbabwe Power Company says it is…

Don’t let the facts spoil a good story

By Angus Shaw | May 20, 2015 |

Nice one. ‘Photoshopped’ image from Bambazonkie. Correspondent Sean warns travelers on the Masvingo-Beitbridge highway. “There are unexpected and very deep potholes along the way and right in line of your wheels, especially on the driver’s side and some are unavoidable.” The road is appalling from Chivhu to Masvingo too, says Sean. Drivers should replace worn…

The race card. Say no more

By Angus Shaw | May 17, 2015 |

American cop beating the hell out of a black man as another looks on in New York   What’s with this current obsession with racism? American police shooting blacks. Black football players being taunted. Racism has been there throughout the ages and isn’t going to go away anytime soon. Young Zimbabweans studying or given military…

How we sleep survey, and what it doesn’t tell us

By Angus Shaw | May 13, 2015 |

New global research shows that in southern Africa we wake up earlier than in most other parts of the world. Because those of us nearer the equator don’t have long, light evenings and not much change in the time of sunrise and sunset throughout the seasons, we awake, on average, at around 6.a.m., the earliest…